Nick Compton wants Team India to change the opener in The Oval Test

He was one who had predicted that India would not be able to win the Test series in England. His prediction proved to be true as India lost the fourth Test in Birmingham by 60 runs and with that, the series 1-3. Nick Compton, the England opener now has an advice for Virat Kohli’s men ahead of the final Test and it is about bringing Prithvi Shaw in place of a struggling KL Rahul.

The clamour for bringing the 18-year-old Shaw, who has made quite a name for himself in a brief career so far, has grown louder ever since Rahul fell for a duck in the second innings in Southampton. Shaw was included in the Indian squad for the last two Tests, in place of another struggling opener Murali Vijay after he managed a pair in the second Test at Lord’s. It looks quite a possibility that he overtakes yet another experienced opener to earn his maiden Test cap. The Oval Test begins on September 7.

Compton, 35, came up with his clear idea of playing Shaw in place of Rahul in reply to a tweet by journalist Gaurav Kalra asking whether Shaw would feature at the final Test at the Oval. Compton even gave his verdict that Rahul is no opener.

Get him in, Rahul not an opener

— Nick Compton (@thecompdog) September 5, 2018

Rahul, 26, was picked as one of the specialist openers for the tour and barring the first Test in Birmingham, he batted as an opener. He managed just 113 runs in eight innings with the highest score of 36 at Trent Bridge, the only time the Indian openers came out with some decent performance in both innings of a Test.

Rahul’s figures as an opener in Tests

Out of his 28 Tests, Rahul has batted at No.1 on 13 occasions, scoring 950 runs at an impressive average of 52.77 and with two hundreds, one of them was a 199. In 14 matches, the batsman has played at No.2, scoring 584 runs at an average of 27.80 with two hundreds and the higher being 110. Overall, he has scored 1,625 runs at an average of 36.11 with four hundreds and 11 fifties.

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